


Hear Me

by MsMio



Category: Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-11-20
Updated: 2018-07-14
Packaged: 2019-01-22 20:23:26
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,782
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12490104
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MsMio/pseuds/MsMio
Summary: Dark times have reached Skyrim; a civil war divides the people, dragons are rising up from their graves, and vampires are terrorizing the nine Holds. However, in these dark times, a hero always rises up; sadly, this hero only has her voice as her weapon.





	1. Pretty Girl

It was a well kept secret that Lydia made sure to always go out once a week to pick some blue violets; she loved the little flowers, and she was overjoy at having found a patch of them that grew by the riverbank east to the city. It was silly, to still enjoy picking flowers like she once did as a small girl, but Lydia couldn't find much care to stop herself. Spring had finally come back to Skyrim and those violets surely have grown in by now; Lydia decided immediately upon seeing the beautiful day outside that she would go collect some.

Lydia hurried down the steps that lead up to Dragonsreach. She was honored by being a personal guard to the Jarl and his family, but it really wasn't the place for her. Lydia was a busy body from the day she was born, sitting around and doing nothing made her restless and irritated. She looked up at the Gildergreen as she reached the last step; its branches were covered in blooming pink flowers, the wind carrying its sweet scent throughout the city. Lydia never thought she would see the Gildergreen be restore in her lifetime; such a shame the person who restore it only did it because of a bet.

Lydia was passing under one of the thick branches of the Gildergreen when the gentle notes of a lute started to play above her.

_"I've seen you walking around,  
and oh, how you leave me breathless."_

A familiar voice sung from above, beautiful and rich like honey; Lydia sighs as she turned and looked up to face the bane of her life. Samaes Fair-Arrow sat up nestled in the branches of the Gildergreen, littered in pink petals and rays of sunlight.

_"Pretty girl, you must be the one for me,  
for you're always in my dreams."_

A crowd was starting to gather, and Lydia was doing her best to force down the heat that wanted to take her cheeks. Samaes gave a lazy smile, one of her legs hanging off of the branch and swinging slowly.

_"Pretty girl, I just wanna say, just wanna sing, whenever I see you.  
Oh! How nothing can compare to you."_

Samaes suddenly stops playing, her smile turning sheepish. "That's...that's all I got so far, sorry."

Soft laughter rippled through the small crowd that had gathered, everyone went on about their business, though some shouted their approval of the song. Samaes shifts to sit with both of her legs hanging off of the branch, she puts her lute on her back before hopping out of the Gildergreen. She landed in a crouch, and as she straightens up pink petals rain down around her.

Lydia rolls her eyes as she stepped up to Samaes and brushed some of the petals out of her hair. "Must you embarrass me like that?"

Bright amber eyes shot up toward her, a thin eyebrow raised in confusion. "Wha? I wasn't singing about you."

"Oh, you weren't?"

Samaes shakes her head, brushing some petals from the shoulders of her form-fitting jacket. "I mean, I was singing to all the pretty girls of Whiterun so I guess I was singing to you, but yet I wasn't."

Lydia tilts her head. "So...you were singing to me?"

"...Yea, sure I guess I was, but I would describe you as handsome; you Nordic women and your wonderfully strong jawlines." Samaes gives Lydia a smile she would like to call charming; Lydia calls it annoying. "So, where are you headed off to on this fine morning?"

"Just taking a walk, you know how I get when I stay sitting for too long," Lydia said.

"Mind if I join you? I have a few hours to spend until I have to play for a dinner the Jarl is hosting." Samaes keeps on smiling, and Lydia thinks she has never seen the Bosmer without a smile on her face.

Lydia nods and they walk away from the Gildergreen as they head down to the market. "Do you really wanna spend most of your morning and afternoon with me?"

"Well of course! I love spending time with you, Lydia...Don't you like to spend time with me?" For a second Samaes's expression drops a bit, but her bright smile quickly returns.

"Oh, yes, I do. I just thought you would prefer being around the tavern or Jorrvaskr." Lydia quickly stepped to the side as a young boy ran by, a little girl chasing after him.

"Ugh, no, being around so many drunken men so often gets tiring." Samaes's smile fades for a moment to turn into a scowl. "Speaking of drunken men, there was a real rude one that came in last night."

"Oh? What happened?" Lydia's interest is instantly caught; Samaes always told the best stories.

"Okay, the evening has barely started, the mead is just beginning to flow, when the doors are thrown open and walks in this man." Samaes was animated when she told stories, moving her arms in grand gestures and she wouldn't stand still. "He's one of those people who thinks he's better than everyone else, you could see it in the way he held himself and stared down at everyone."

"He already sounds nasty."

Samaes gives Lydia a look that just screamed 'it gets worst.' "So he walks in, swagger in his step and dressed in shiny armor, and he just starts making an ass of himself. He boasted about his battles, getting touchy with Saadia and any woman that passed him, and he tried to start several fights. Then he set his sights on me." Samaes visibly shuddered. "I didn't notice I had his attention until he was upon me."

Lydia's throat tighten slightly, anger slowly boiling up in her chest. "Did he hurt you?"

Samaes shook her head no. "He wasn't given the chance. "You there, elf, you're a pretty thing now aren't ya. I don't usually like pointy ears, but I can make an exception for you." He tried to grab me, but you won't believe who stopped him." Lydia raised an eyebrow, a silent gesture for Samaes to tell who. "Uthgerd! She snatched him up by the back of his armor and dragged him toward the door, all the while growling at him "you try to touch her, if I even see you near her again, I will break your fingers and then your hands, and then I'll break your arms just for the fun of it.""

Lydia's eyes widen. "She really said that?"

Samaes nods excitedly, a smug smirk stretching out across her face. "She throws him out and then she comes back over to me, gave me a quick look over, and then asked if I wanted to sit with her. All I got to say is I showed her all night how thankful I was of her dealing with that man."

"Gross! I didn't need to know that, Sam!" Lydia shoves Samaes's shoulder, and they share a laugh. "By the Gods, Sam, have you bedded every woman in this city?"

"Nope, Aela and you still resist me to this day."

"Good, I think we would catch a disease from you."

Samaes gasps and she gives Lydia a look of mock hurt. "How. Dare you! I will have you know I'm very careful about such things, I make sure-"

Lydia stops Samaes before she gets into a rant. "Yeah, yeah, I don't wanna hear about your sex life."

"You're the one who brought it up in the first place!"

* * *

It really is nice out. The breeze is gentle and surprisingly warm this early in spring. Samaes plucks the strings of her lute slowly and hums a sluggish tune while Lydia picks her violets. Lydia pauses a moment to just enjoy the music, swaying slightly where she stood. She turns to say something to Samaes when there was a sudden dull thud close to her right; Lydia looks to see an arrow planted in the dirt a foot away.

"Huh, that was a shit shot," Samaes mutters.

Lydia immediately drops the flowers and grabs her shield and sword, about to charge off to meet the two bandits that were crossing the bridge. The archer takes aim again, but she isn't aimed at Lydia. Lydia quickly moves and brings her shield up in time to block the arrow that would have pierced Samaes.

"Sam, you need to run!" Lydia snarls, another arrow thuds against her shield, and the two other bandits were getting closer.

"No! I can help!"

"With what weapon?!"

"This one!"

Before Lydia can question Samaes an odd sensation fills the space around her causing the hair on her arms to stand up. Samaes's heavenly voice rings out, the bandits pause for a moment clearly caught off guard by the sudden singing; but Lydia found a wave of vigor washing over her.

_"So striking she is with her steel,  
and so steadfast she is with her shield."_

_"Countless of men have fallen before her,  
but she has fallen to none."_

_"Like the steel she wears,_  
_Lydia will bend to none!_  
_So come all who may,_  
_and test your fate,_  
_for surely you will fall just like the rest!"_

Lydia charged off with speed she has never had before. The bandits tried to defend themselves, but Lydia's blade seemed to seek out weak points in their armor that Lydia had not even seen; her movements unnaturally fluid, her attacks far more powerful. The two men were dead within seconds, and Lydia twisted around to go seek out the archer. She saw just in time the archer taking up aim for her, but before the woman could even pull back on the bowstring a bolt of blinding light strikes the woman in the chest knocking her off her feet. The archer twitches for a moment before her body goes still.

"Well! That was fun." Samaes is at Lydia's side, adjusting her lute on her back once more. There's a nervous energy to her body, Samaes shifts from foot to foot, playing with the strap of her lute. "How do you feel? Not tired?"

"You're a mage," Lydia breaths, "why have you never told me?"

Samaes shrugs her shoulders helplessly. "What was I supposed to say? A bit weird to just tell someone you can do magic by singing when you first meet them."

Lydia sheaths her sword. "You do magic by singing?"

"Oh, yeah, I'm not really a mage in the normal sense. I'm a bard, but I don't mean a tavern bard, bards are a different kind of mage; kind of like how there are warlocks and sorcerers."

"So what I felt earlier, that was some kind of spell?"

Samaes nods, excitement filling her eyes making them crinkle at the edges and brighter. "The Song of Battle, a useful spell for, well, battle. Bards aren't really warriors, we do have spells like fireballs and lightning bolts, but most of our spells are to support another in battle."

Samaes gathers up the violets Lydia had dropped and handed them back to the Nord. "Thank you," Lydia said as she took them, "what else can you tell me about bards?"

They walk back toward Whiterun, Samaes eagerly telling the lore of bards and how they came to be. Magic wasn't something Lydia found herself to be interested in, but yet she found herself taking in ever single word and asking questions. She was so lost in learning about such a large aspect of Samaes that she hadn't noticed someone calling her name until Samaes frowns and stops talking. Lydia looks up and to the left to see Aela the Huntress walking toward them; behind Aela Lydia could see the dead body of a giant and two other Companions.

"Lydia! Samaes! You missed a good fight." Aela smirks as she comes to a stop in front of them.

"Aye, a giant is an impress kill. Lydia and I just killed some bandits down by the river." Samaes grinned in pride, wrapping an arm around Lydia's waist.

Aela raises an eyebrow. "Really? I didn't think you could fight, Sam."

Samaes's grin widens. "I can't! Well, with swords anyway, magic is more my style."

Aela nods, a smile taking up her face. "Ah, should have known. You'll have to tell the tale the next time you're in Jorrvaskr, maybe even show off a few spells."

"I thought you Nords didn't like mages." It was a playful barb, but Aela and Lydia both flinched at hear it.

"I'm perfectly fine with mages, I can't speak for my fellow Nords, but I've never had a problem with magic." Aela crossed her arms.

"Oh, I know Aela." Samaes places her hand on Aela's forearm and gives it a light squeeze. "Come now don't be so serious. Walk with Lydia and me, I'll tell you what happened with the bandits."

Aela fell in step with them and Samaes immediately dived into telling her what happened by the riverbank. Aela was as interested as Lydia in hearing about bards and the magic Samaes wielded. They were passing by the stables when Aela took notice of the violets in Lydia's hand.

"Those are lovely, do you like those?" Aela asks.

Lydia turns her head away. "I do...ugh, it's embarrassing."

Aela takes one, she lifts it to her nose and breathes deeply. _I've smelled these on her before, she must put them with her clothing._ "There's no shame in liking flowers."

"Really?" Lydia looks back to Aela.

"Indeed, especially when you can break a man over your knee. It adds a sense of...gentleness to you."

_"Kiss me, her eyes say,  
and the mood feels right."_

Aela and Lydia look toward Samaes with harsh glares, but her back was to them. She plays a light tune on her lute, a spring in her walk.

_"Lean in, I dare thee,_  
_no need to fear for she feels the same._  
_Take the risk,_  
_claim those lips so tenderly."_

"Samaes!" Lydia hisses, her face was red right to the roots of her hair.

Samaes's laugh is so beautiful, like chiming bells. "Come now Lydia, you mustn't take my silly songs so seriously."

"I'm gonna strangle you," Lydia snarls.

Samaes laughs again, shaking her head as she moves her lute to her back. "You need to live more freely Lydia, life is too short to be so uptight."

"Why you little..." Lydia had taken a few steps toward Samaes, but Aela grabs onto her shoulder.

"Leave her be, Lydia, she isn't hurting anyone." Aela pulls Lydia back to her side. "Cute little song, Sammy, if you ever write a full version of it I would like to hear it."

"Of course Aela! Anything for the mighty Huntress of Whiterun." Samaes throws a wink over her shoulder.

Aela rolls her eyes fondly. "Damn flirt," Aela mutters under her breath.

* * *

Samaes frowns a bit as she smooths out the front of her silk shirt. Farengar kept on with his rambling of dragons, and usually Samaes would listen with great interest, but the presence of a stranger in the room made her far too uncomfortable to focus on his words. Samaes doesn't mind strangers, after-all she has slept with quite a few; however, something about this woman made Samaes shift in unease.

"Lady Fair-Arrow? Are you alright?"

Hearing her name draws Samaes's attention and eyes back to Farengar. "Ah, um pardon me, Farengar, I haven't been feeling quite well today."

Farengar's brows furrow. "If you're not feeling well then maybe you should go rest for the night, I'm sure the Jarl will understand if you-"

Samaes held up a hand. "No, no, it's nothing too serious, I'll be fine."

Farengar shakes his head, he looks down back at his desk and the many papers and open tomes laying on it. "I have that tome you've requested, I believe I've left it on the table in the corner." Farengar gestures to the corner with a lazy flick of his wrist.

"Thank you! I owe you, Farengar, it would have taken me forever to get it on my own." Samaes bounces over to the table, she grabs the tome and immediately starts to flip through the pages; so engross in the words Samaes didn't notice a new person entering the room until she heard a loud bang and a few thuds.

Samaes turns, and ice ran through her veins; the man from the night before had grabbed Farengar by the front of his robes and almost has the poor mage pulled over his desk. The woman in the corner looks caught in between pulling her dagger or staying out of the conflict. The man was a Nord, dressed in heavy armor that was polished to a shine and a sword sheathed at his hip. Samaes hugged the book against her chest wondering if she could sneak pass to get Lydia to stop the man.

"You idiot mage, you sent me on a wild goose chase! Your stone wasn't there." The man snarls as he pushes Farengar away.

Farengar trips over his robes and falls onto his backside. "B-but our sources, everything points to Bleak Falls Burrow. Are you sure it isn't there?"

The man sneers. "Quite. Honestly, all this time and coin wasted on researching dead creatures, maybe I should speak to the Jarl about getting a new court-wizard."

Farengar's eyes widen. "I-n-no need! I'll...I'll still paid you for the time spent you put into looking for the Dragonstone."

"Good." A smug grin curls onto the man's face. "I'll collect my coin after I enjoy the lovely dinner the Jarl kindly invited me to. I hear the best bard in all of Skyrim is playing, I can't wait to meet her."

Samaes likes to think she isn't a violent person, often she is very forgiving to people who have wrong her, and when faced with an angry person she usually calms them down with gentle words. However, with each word and ugly expression upon the man's face dug up memories best left forgotten in her mind. When Samaes looked upon the man she didn't see the face of a Nord, but the face of _him_.

"You already did last night, you fucking arse, and you got thrown out for it." Samaes slammed her book down onto the table.

The man whips around and his eyes widen when they land upon Samaes. "You! What are you doing here, elf?" The man spat out his words, but his eyes were still wide and looking around wildly.

"Elf" it stung almost as badly as the insults from her childhood. "Like you said, I'm playing for the dinner tonight, though I think you won't be having the pleasure of listening to me play tonight, nor enjoy the dinner." Samaes takes slow steps toward the man.

"Oh? Why?" Samaes was impressed the man stood his ground even when he was starting to twitch now.

"Besides the fact I'm very good friends with Balgruuf and can easily have you kicked out of Whiterun for not only harassing many of the women of this city, but also physically assaulting his court-wizard?"

The man's face instantly went pale. "Y-you won't."

Samaes grins impishly, her anger melting away to sick amusement; she wondered if this is what _he_ felt when she would coward at his feet. "You don't know that, sure everyone around here say I'm nice, but really...I can be a bitch. For example, you're no adventurer, you were lying to Farengar to make some quick coin."

Farengar had stood up at this point, a crossed look on his face. "What?!"

"There isn't a scratch or dent on that armor, it looks like it was made just the day before. I bet you've never unsheathed that sword." Samaes takes one step closer so she's toe to toe with the man, looking up to stare him in the eye. "So, I think it's best you leave, because unlike you..." Samaes calls upon what little magic she could control without singing, lightning sparks across her hands and forearms. "...I don't lie when I say I can kill a man."

Samaes sees the man's throat flex; he slowly closes his eyes, takes a deep breath, and then turns around and runs out of the room. Samaes lets out a sigh of relief as her magic fades from her hands. "are you alright, Farengar?" She asks.

"Yes, and thank you...Samaes. I can't believe I had almost given money to that bastard." Farengar shakes his head as he puts his hands on his hips.

"It's okay, a lot of people fell for his act."

"But not you." Farengar gives her a slight smirk.

Samaes shrugs her shoulders. "I've dealt with men like him before, con-artists are the worst."

Farengar nods in agreement. "...But maybe he was right, perhaps I'm wasting the Jarl's time with my dragon research. We don't know for sure if the Dragonstone is there."

"So you hired that idiot to get a stone from...Bleak Falls Burrow, right?" Farengar nods, and Samaes grins. "I can go get it for you, free of charge."

Farengar's eyes almost bulged out his head. "I-I couldn't ask you to-!"

"You're not asking me, I'm offering." Samaes leans her hip against the desk. "Don't worry, I can rope Lydia into coming with me, that girl hates sitting around Dragonsreach all day."

"Are you sure, Samaes? Nordic ruins are very dangerous."

Samaes grins widely. "That's okay, I leave my fate in the hands of the Gods, if I die then I guess it was my time to go." Samaes steps away from the desk. "Well, it's been exciting Farengar, but dinner should be soon so I best go. I'll get you your Dragonstone tomorrow, promise."


	2. The Dragonborn

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Samaes begins her epic tale as the Dragonborn.

Samaes grunts softly as Lydia pushes her down to the ground, a pair of arrows flying over them. Bandits, why was it always bandits? Not that Samaes was really complaining, but it seemed this land never ran out of folks who enjoyed robbing and murdering other people. A tall, Redguard man rushed them, swinging his greatsword over his head to bring it down onto Lydia's unprotected skull. Samaes thrusts out her hand with a high-pitched note in her throat, a familiar bolt of cackling energy slams into the man's chest and sent him sailing through the air.

Lydia ducks down behind the cover of a large boulder, she takes the oak bow from her back and notches an arrow; a trilling note sharpens her sight and makes her hands steady. She pops out of cover and releases the arrow, she quickly notches another and releases again before ducking back down. Samaes saw Lydia's mark get hit in the chest by the first arrow and then the second arrow pierce his throat. There was still two more archers and Samaes had no clue where they were, and she wasn't taking the risk just to see. Lydia moves out from her cover again, firing two more arrows, but this time she doesn't move back behind the boulder.

"It's clear," Lydia said as she puts the bow on her back. "Are you alright, Sam?"

"Yes, are you?" Samaes gets to feet and walks over to Lydia's side.

Lydia simply grins. "Yeah, thanks to you."

Samaes grins down at the ground, running a hand through her short hair. "Oh shut it, you're the one doing all the hard work, I'm just giving you a bit of an edge in battle."

Lydia chuckles lowly as they march forward through the snow, Samaes keeping a look out while Lydia collects what arrows she can from the corpses. When done they approach the great iron doors and see one was left ajar; Lydia and Samaes look to each other and share a nod before they both crouch down. Samaes slips through first, her nose wrinkles a bit seeing the corpse of a Nord and a bunch of skeevers. They slowly creep around the bodies, but they both come to a quick stop when they see two bandits standing at a fire, speaking about one of their fellows.

Lydia feels Samaes lean into her side, and then Samaes is humming lowly in her ear; her sight sharpening once again. "I've got the woman. On the count of three." Samaes whispers before pulling away.

Lydia pulls out an arrow and aims up as sparks jump along Samaes's hand. "One. Two. Three." Lydia loosens the arrow at the same time Samaes lets out a high note and bolt of lightning. Both the arrow and lightning found their targets, the arrow piercing the man's throat and the lightning bolt striking the woman in the chest and send her flying into the stone wall with a sickening crunch.

Samaes hops up from crouching, patting some dirt from the knees of her pants. "Well, that was exciting! Ready to see what else this tomb has waiting for us?"

Lydia shakes her head as she stands up. "My guess; spiders, traps, and draugrs."

"Lovely, you Nords sure do know how to make a girl feel welcomed."

Lydia rolls her eyes and walks forward taking the lead. "We should stay quiet, we don't know if they have any friends up ahead."

Samaes hums in agreement. "Probably, but we've been doing amazing so far, I think we can take on whatever is waiting for us."

* * *

"I. Hate. Spiders." Samaes does her best to pick the webbing from her hair, but she knew only a bath at this point was gonna get the stuff out of her hair. "Why spiders, and why giant spiders? I think I prefer skeevers at this point."

"It was just one spider."

"One  _giant_ spider, Lydia,  _giant_."

Lydia rolls her eyes, she reaches into the dead dark elf's pack and pulls out the golden claw he spoke of. "Huh, who do you think they stole this from?"

Samaes looks at the claw and lets out a low whistle. "Actually, I think someone in Riverwood, I had heard talk of a shop getting hit by some thieves."

"We'll stop in Riverwood on our way back then." Lydia stands up and hands the claw to Samaes. "Well, that was the spider, traps and draugrs next."

Samaes quickly puts the claw into their pack. "That's better than spiders."

"Yeah, until you see and smell a draugr up close."

* * *

After what felt like hours wandering through the Nordic tomb Lydia and Samaes finally reached what seemed like the last room, well, more like cavern. As Samaes follows Lydia up the large stone platform a noise started to rise up; Samaes stills, frowning when she realizes it sounded like men chanting.

"Lydia? Do you hear that?"

Lydia stops at the top of the stairs and looks back at Samaes. "Hear what?"

"Chanting, you don't hear that?" Samaes turns slowly in circle, trying to locate the chanting, but it was like the noise was all around her.

"Come on, Sam, stop joking around we're almost done here."

Samaes turns back toward Lydia. "I'm not joking! There are people chanting!"

Lydia frowns a little now in concern. "Okay, okay...How about you go sit down by the wall and rest while I look for the stone, alright? Maybe you're just a bit exhausted." 

"Maybe...maybe you're right. Ugh, I can't wait to get back to Whiterun."

Samaes steps up onto the top platform and immediately her vision swims with blue and gold lights, the chanting now deafening and drowning out everything. One of the strange cravings upon the curved wall glows blue, and Samaes finds herself moving without much thought, the chanting chased away any common sense in her. She reaches out and her fingertips lightly brush over the glowing craving, and then her world turns white as a single word, once unknown to her, roars like thunder in her ears.

_Fus._

"-m, Sam? Samaes!" Samaes blinks a few times until the white clears away; Lydia has a hold of Samaes's shoulders, a look of worry on her face. "Sam, are you alright? What just happened? You looked like you were about to faint!"

"I-I'm not sure, the chanting just got louder, and there were these bright colors, and one of the words on the wall was glowing!"

Lydia's look of concern turned to confusion, and just as she was about to open her mouth to say something there was a loud crack of stone breaking. Lydia whips around pulling her sword from its sheath and bring her shield up. A draugr, larger than the ones they fought earlier, pulls itself out of a stone coffin; its glowing eyes instantly locks onto them and it let out low hiss as it draws its greatsword from its back.

"Stay back, Sam! I'll handle this!" Lydia strikes her shield with the pommel of her sword before charging the draugr with a battle cry.

There's a loud inhale of breath from the draugr before it shouts. " _FUS_."

An unseen force slams into Lydia, almost knocking her off of her feet. She takes a few stumbling steps backwards, and then she feels hands steady her. The draugr takes a lumbering run at her, swinging at her left side. Lydia blocks the blade with her shield, she moves in while the draugr regains its balance. The strumming of a lute fills the cavern, Lydia grins as a rush of vigor flows through her and her speed picks up. The draugr, despite its strange power, could not hold up against Lydia while Samaes had her back.

Lydia let out a shout as she bashed aside the draugr's greatsword, her sword finding home in its belly. She rips through the right side of the torso, withered skin and bone breaking with ease. The glowing light quickly fades the draugr's eyes, a final gurgling hiss leaving its throat as it fell at Lydia's feet.

Lydia sheaths her sword as she turns around. "How are you feeling, Sam?"

"Better, but I'll be great once we get out of here." Samaes shifts her lute back to her back.

"Agreed, now let's see where he was hiding that stone."

* * *

Farengar almost jumps out of his skin when something is suddenly slammed against his desk with a loud bang. He looks up into the glimmering, amber eyes of Samaes Fair-Arrow, and Farengar has never seen her so filthy before; her fine clothing covered in blood and dirt, and her short hair a wild mess. Lydia was just over Samaes's shoulder, looking both exhausted and amused.

"All hail, Lydia the Unbreakable and Samaes Fair-Arrow! Slayers of bandits, draugrs, and other terrible things! Farengar, I believe this is your Dragonstone." Samaes grins as she slides the slab of stone closer to Farengar. "You're welcome by the way."

"You...you actually did it..."

"But of course!" Samaes takes a few steps back to stand beside Lydia. "Lydia and I make an unstoppable team; saber cats, trolls, bears, we can kill them with ease!"

Lydia rolls her eyes, she places a hand on Samaes's head and ruffles her hair. "Slow down, Sam, we just killed a few bandits and draugrs, that doesn't make us impressive enough to face beasts like that."

Samaes beams up at Lydia, and for a moment Lydia feels a flutter in her chest; it's ruined by Irileth who comes into the room with flushed cheeks and panting for air. "Farengar, you must come at once, a dragon has been sighted nearby." She takes notice of Lydia and Samaes, though she was solely focused on Lydia. "Lydia, you should come along too."

Lydia and Farengar follow after Irileth, Samaes silently trailing behind them. Balgruuf was waiting for them, his posture stiff and there were dark circles under his eyes. A guard joins them as they all come to a stop before Balgruuf.

"Good, you're all here. Guardsman, what happened at the watchtower, was the dragon attacking?"

"No, my lord, it was just circling above. I've never ran so fast in my life before, I was sure it would come after me."

Balgruuf nods. "Go rest up. Irileth, I want you to gather your men and head to the watchtower."

"They are already waiting at the gates."

"Good." Balgruuf turns toward Lydia. "Lydia, I hate to ask this of you, but we need-"

Lydia holds up a hand, stopping Balgruuf mid-sentence. "There's no need, my Jarl, Whiterun is my home and I will gladly fight for it."

Samaes steps up beside Lydia. "I'm going too."

Balgruuf's eyes widen. "Samaes? I wasn't aware you could fight."

"I'm a mage, and most of my spells support others in battle, which I think is going to be of great use since this is a dragon." Samaes flashs him a wide grin. "Besides, how can I, a bard, miss a battle with a dragon?"

Balgruuf lets out a gruff chuckle, shaking his head with a small smile on his lips. "Of course, how foolish of me...Please be careful, Sam, you are a dear friend and beloved by many in the city."

"Don't worry, I'm a lot tougher than I look." Samaes nudges Lydia with her elbow. "This one knows what I'm talking about."

Lydia rolls her eyes. "Yeah, yeah, come on we don't have time to waste."

Samaes grins at Lydia's retreating back, she gives Balgruuf a wink as she starts to take a few slow steps after Lydia. "You'll be having a second dragon hanging over your throne, my Jarl!" She fully turns away from Balgruuf and hurries after Lydia. "Wait up, Lydia! I don't have long legs like you!"

* * *

"I don't like this," Samaes peeks over the bolder she was hiding behind with Lydia.

The watchtower looked okay, besides a few burn marks on its wall and on the ground around it; no dragon in sight. Samaes twists her lute around so it's in her hands, she plucks at a few of the strings; it's a nervous habit that Samaes didn't show off often, but when she did Lydia knew Samaes truly was anxious. Lydia reaches out and runs her hand along the side of Samaes's head.

"Hey, it's you and me, and we make an unstoppable team, right?"

Samaes turns her head toward Lydia, Lydia's hand comes to rest on the back of Samaes's neck. "Don't use my own words against me." Samaes grumbles, but a slight smile replaces her frown.

"Alright let's move out and look for survivors." Irileth gave the order.

Samaes and Lydia stick together as they walk toward the tower, Samaes playing an unknown tune on her lute. They head up the crumbling stairs of the watchtower, and before they even reach the doorway a man pokes his head out.

"No, get out of here! It's still around here somewhere! Tor got grabbed when he tried to run back to the city."

"When did you last-" Samaes stops when a roar echos out from a distant.

The man whimpers and disappears back into the tower. "Kynareth save us, it's back!"

Samaes looks up just in time to see an ancient being that should be dead flying over the watchtower. Samaes feels her heart start to pick up pace, her attention solely focused on the great beast. She feels herself being pulled backwards into the watchtower, breaking her focus. Lydia glances outside and her eyes widen in horror as the dragon breaths fire down upon the guards outside.

"Fuck, what are we going to do, Sam?" Lydia turns her gaze back to Samaes, and her brow furrows seeing the weirdly intense look on her face. "Sam?"

"I have a plan, you're not gonna like it." Samaes mutters as she walks toward the doorway. "I will grab the dragon's attention, giving the guards and you a chance to bring it down from the air."

"What!? Are you insane?" Lydia hisses, grabbing Samaes's wrist just before she steps out of the doorway.

Samaes wiggles out Lydia's grip. "I'll be fine, but we need to hurry now, before everyone turns into cinder."

Samaes races out of the watchtower and to the field from across the tower. Her trembling hands take a hold of her lute and settle as she plucks a familiar tune on it; the lute is louder than it should be, and after a moment catches the dragon's ear. The dragon stops raining flames down upon the guardsmen and flies toward Samaes snarling and hissing. Samaes slowly walks backwards, sweat forming on her brow as she contiunes to play.

Arrows start to strike against the hide of the dragon, but none pierce the scaly hide of the great beast. The dragon lands heavily on the ground causing it to shake and for Samaes to almost lose her footing, but her hands are steady and don't miss a note. Samaes realizes a bit too late that she and the dragon are a bit too far away for Lydia and the guards to immediately to get to the dragon.

Samaes inhales deeply and then sings, her voice firm and beautiful and carries out to everyone.

" _Our hero, our hero claims a warrior's heart,  
I tell you, I tell you the Dragonborn comes!_ "

" _With a Voice wielding power of ancient Nord art,  
believe, believe the Dragonborn comes!_ "

If a dragon could express surprise surly this one would be absolutely bewildered as a lightning bolt slams into its chest, then another slams into its jaw, and another in its neck. It rears back letting out a pained roar, the dragon snarls and it opens its mouth embers starting to billow out; only for a lightning bolt to go right into its open mouth. Samaes knew she shouldn't be getting cocky, but a smirk was stretching out her lips. Fury burns in the dragon's eyes, but its movements were getting sluggish, and as it tried to breath fire again all it could get out was black smoke and embers.

" _It's an end to the evil of all Skyrim's foes,  
beware, beware the Dragonborn comes!_ "

" _For the darkness has passed and the legend yet grows,  
you'll know, you'll know the Dragonborn's come!_ "

For a moment Samaes swears the dragon's eyes widen and actually cries out something as she releases the built up lightning bolt, far larger than the ones she had been using against the dragon so far. It strikes the dragon in the face, piercing through its eye, and time seems to slow as the back of the dragon's head explosions outward. The dragon can barely get out one last roar, sounding more like a weak groan as its body falls limp.

Samaes blinks-hard-as she stares at the massive corpse with a loose jaw. Cheers rose up and a body suddenly ramming into her and lifting her off of her feet snaps her out her stunned state. Lydia laughs brightly and almost squeezes the life out of Samaes.

"You did it! You killed an actual dragon, Sam!" Lydia sets Samaes back onto her feet, she grabs Samaes's by the shoulders. "Gods, how-how do you want to celebrate?! Drinks at the Bannered Mare, or-no-we have to go to Jorrvaskr; Aela will kill us if we don't tell her about you killing a _dragon_!"

Samaes smiles, not as strong as Lydia's brilliant grin as the result of her using up so much mana finally caught up to her. "Indeed she would, we'll have to visit her once-"

"By the Gods! What's happening?!"

Lydia and Samaes both turn and look at the startled cry, and their eyes widen. The scaly hide of the dragon rapidly burns away like parchment, fire pours from the dragon's body and rushes toward them. Lydia jumps out of the way, but she watches in horror as the fire slams into Samaes and consumes her.

"Samaes!" Lydia dances on her feet, caught between wanting to dive into the fire to save her friend, and unsure if her friend was already dead.

The fire fades away in an instant revealing Samaes unharmed and looking to be only dazed. Lydia sighs out in relief.

"Thank the Nine. Sam, are you okay?" Lydia asks as she starts to take a few steps toward Samaes.

Samaes doesn't look toward Lydia, her gaze is locked onto the now skeletal body of the dragon. Her eyes narrow, her chest slowly puffs out as she inhales, and then she releases it in a familiar, but strange power that they had seen early this day.

" _FUS_."

Lydia froze up, and the world around her might as well have stopped too with how quiet it had become. The guards, who had been gathering around at this point, one steps forward with awe on his face and spoke his dreaded words.

"I can't believe it...you're the Dragonborn."


End file.
